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While about half of small businesses in the U.S. experience a cyber-attack, a whopping 87 percent of business owners think they’re not at risk. A data breach can be devastating; half of small businesses who experience one are shuttered within six months.

The good news is there are some easy things you can do to protect yourself from hackers who can not only steal money and customer data, but also employee details and vendor information.

Train employees on your cybersecurity policy and what you expect them to do. This should include procedures for keeping employee, vendor, and customer information safe, as well as protocols on what to do in case there is a breach. Employees should also create strong, unique passwords for each account and every desktop and mobile device they use. Encourage the use of two-step authentication as well.

Regularly update computers to ensure operating systems and web browsers are up to date and running any new versions of software, including security software. Any software stored on computers should also be updated.

Regularly backup computers so that if information is stolen, there’s another copy available. For example, vendor information on your desktop should also have a copy stored in the cloud. All important information should include encryption and password protection.

Limiting access is an important key to data security. Only employees should have access to company computers and accounts, and they shouldn’t share passwords.

Secure your WiFi so only employees can access it. If you want an open WiFi for customers to use, set up a separate network so that guests don’t have the same WiFi access as employees.

​ It’s imperative to build a strong cyber security plan. By using data breach basics, you can help protect your business from cyber-attacks.

Contact a Simplified Agent today to learn how we can help protect your business

Major corporate data breaches may make headlines, but small businesses actually suffer the majority of malware infections. In fact, recent data suggests small business owners should think in terms of “when,” not “if” when developing cyber security strategies. Consider these recent statistics:​

The percentage of small businesses that have experienced a cyberattack in the past 12 months rose from 55 percent in 2016 to 61 percent in 2017 (Ponemon Institute).

58 percent of malware attack victims are categorized as small businesses (Verizon).

In 2017, cyberattacks cost small and medium-sized businesses an average of $2,235,000. (Verizon).

92.4 percent of malware is delivered via email (Verizon).

60 percent of small businesses say attacks are becoming more severe and more sophisticated (Ponemon Institute).

Crypto-mining attacks increased by 600 percent between January and August of 2017 (IBM).